Conan: Chief of Rice Flower's Science Points

Chapter 428 Interrogation
beep beep-

In the silence of the command center at the investigation headquarters, Megure's cell phone rang...

"Hey! Kudo-kun, what's up with you..." Megure didn't want to answer, but then he realized it was Kudo calling.

“I know the rules of the loop bomb! It must use solar power for timing, and the bomb isn’t on the train, but on the tracks…” Kudo’s voice rang out.

It was Conan making a phone call using a voice changer—after deducing the rules for the bomb's installation and detonation, he immediately wanted to notify Inspector Megure.

but……

Megure then interrupted, "That's right, it's on the railway tracks. It will detonate if it's not exposed to sunlight for more than fourteen seconds... Don't worry, all five bombs are being defused right now."

Just then, cheers erupted inside the investigation headquarters.

All five bombs on the loop line were finally successfully defused...

"Alright, the demolition has been successfully completed." Inspector Megure breathed a sigh of relief.

"They've already discovered it?" Kudo asked in surprise—where did this expert come from?

"Yes, don't worry, Chief Inspector Shiraishi has already caught the bomber," Inspector Megure whispered to Kudo.

"Humph."

Although the sound was very soft, Odagiri still heard it and let out a dissatisfied "humph"...

After all, what Shiraishi did just now was indeed very outrageous.

Not only did they subjectively judge him to be the criminal before he even confessed, but they even... took him to the loop line where the bomb was planted!

Even if Teiji Moriya were truly a criminal, this action would be met with strong criticism, and even if people secretly agreed, they would never dare to utter a word of "support."

Of course, Shiraishi was aware of this as well—no matter how much Moriya Teiji himself clamored, Shiraishi insisted that he had brought him here to find the bomb.

As for why it lingers on the circular line?
Well, Moriya is old; he wanted to identify the bomb, but he just couldn't remember it at the moment...

At least Shiraishi wasn't caught red-handed in any way.

At first, Moriya denied it, and Shiraishi kept an eye on him, noticing that he didn't seem particularly nervous when approaching each car, but rather appeared nervous in a seemingly random way...

Then Shiraishi also confirmed that this guy's bomb was not planted on the road, but on the rails!

So Shiraishi deliberately stopped when he was at his most nervous...

Just as Conan deduced.

The bomb that Moriya planted on the loop line was a reverse solar timer—it would detonate when the sun was blocked for more than 14 seconds.

Given the length of the train, from the front to the back, the travel speed is roughly below 60 kilometers per hour, and the obstruction time will exceed 14 seconds!
This is also why Moriya said on the phone that the bomb would detonate if the speed was below 60 kilometers per hour or if the sun went down.

Of course, if the explosion ultimately occurs because the sun sets, it might not necessarily hit anyone—the loop is so long, and with five bombs on it, the probability of them all detonating at night is actually quite low…

However, if slowing down causes an explosion, it will definitely hit the train!
When Moriya finally stopped the car after Shiraishi stopped, his heart almost jumped out of his chest—although Shiraishi hadn't stopped perfectly, just right next to an SUV that blocked the bomb, Moriya could only determine the approximate location, and couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the bomb without getting out of the car!
He knew there was a reverse sunlight countdown bomb he had prepared nearby, and when he saw Shiraishi stop there, his mentality collapsed instantly.

Finally, with ten seconds left, he begged Shiraishi to let him drive away immediately, saying he would confess.

Only then did Shiraishi step on the gas and drive away.

At the same time, Moriya also understood that this would completely expose them—even if they didn't admit it afterward, it wouldn't matter!
After all, even if the police failed to prevent the explosion, they were still able to discover the pattern of the explosion. Therefore, Moriya, who appeared frightened at this time, was the prime suspect, whether he admitted it or not.

After Moriya confessed, the investigation headquarters immediately coordinated with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to direct trains on the loop line to leave the loop and to defuse the bomb at the location Moriya had admitted to...

Shiraishi has now removed Moriya Teiji from the ring road and handed him over to the investigation headquarters.

The case seemed to be closed, but...

Just then, Inspector Amamiya came in looking worried and reported to Odagiri, "Chief, Moriya has remained silent since his arrest. The SWAT team says that the plastic bombs recovered after the bomb disposal are only about one-fifth of the stolen ones, and detectives have already searched his house."

Upon hearing this, Odagiri frowned and immediately said, "Send the person to the emergency interrogation room. We must get the results!"

"Yes."

"Eh? Yes." Amamiya was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, but immediately responded.

The so-called "Emergency Interrogation Room" actually refers to the "Emergency Case Countermeasures Interrogation Team"—a subordinate department that was recently established by the First Investigation Division.

All things considered, this is still Odagiri's achievement... policy!
Odagiri brought back his old partner who had been "driven away" a few years ago to establish this department responsible for the interrogation of special cases. Whether this can become a "political achievement" remains to be seen in actual combat.

Of course, Odagiri didn't place all his hopes on his old partner, and immediately called Shiraishi again...

However, this time the phone had only rang twice when Shiraishi knocked on the door and came in.

Seeing this big guy, Odagiri glared at him because of what had just happened, but many of the other officers in the investigation headquarters looked at him with admiration.

Ninomiya, who usually doesn't get along with Shiraishi, hesitated for a moment and didn't dare to provoke or start a fight.

After all, if Shiraishi's actions were taken too seriously, the ones who would end up with a headache would probably be Department Head Odagiri, or even Director Hakuba. If he dared to bring it up, he would be in for a world of trouble!

"Minister..." Shiraishi walked over with a smile.

“There are no superiors or subordinates in police ranks. Superintendent Shiraishi,” Odagiri corrected seriously.

"Yes, Minister Odagiri."

Odagiri didn't have time to correct him further and asked directly, "How did you deduce that the bomber was that Moriya Teiji? He likely had other targets; do you have any leads?"

“Teiji Moriya… well… there really is one. When I was summarizing the locations of the bombings, oh, and the location of the fire in Beika Town, they all had one thing in common: they were all designed by Teiji Moriya!” Shiraishi said confidently.

After all, Shiraishi couldn't very well say that he summarized it based on the idea that "this should be a theatrical version"...

Odagiri:? ? ?

"So what?" Odagiri didn't understand at all—why would he want to destroy his own work?

"To be precise, it was designed by this guy in his early years. They were all asymmetrical structures. After I saw his later designs, they were basically symmetrical. So I guess he was probably dissatisfied with his early aesthetics, which is why he wanted to blow them up. The reason he dragged Shinichi Kudo into it was probably just because that kid was too famous before, so he just found an excuse." Shiraishi said matter-of-factly.

Odagiri, everyone: ...

"You... that's how you understand it?" Odagiri was speechless—what kind of antisocial personality logic is this... and you're actually in sync with him?
"Yes, after all, he's from Beika. You'll know this if you interact with Beika people more. That's why I said the Beika Police Department needs more criminal police officers!" Shiraishi said confidently.

"Alright, we'll talk about that later... So if there are other targets, they're probably from his early years, right?" Odagiri asked, but he was quite certain.

Odagiri immediately said to Megure, "Inspector Megure, investigate immediately what other designs this guy made in his early years... in Tokyo!" "Yes! But... Chief, Moriya is a famous designer. Even if the location is limited to Tokyo, he should have designed quite a few buildings." Megure said worriedly.

"The more famous the better," Shiraishi advised.

"Yes, and remember... don't alarm the public," Odagiri instructed.

Throughout Tokyo, there are countless designs by Teiji Moriya. If I told everyone that these places might contain bombs, it would definitely cause riots.

Then, the detective from the Moriya Teiji family also sent back news...

Some plastic bombs were indeed found, but the quantity was only about the same as those placed on the "circular line," far less than the number that were lost!
“As expected…” Shiraishi nodded after hearing this—he had felt a little uneasy in front of the Moriya family’s mansion earlier.

Thinking back, if I had directly exposed Moriya back then, he might have wanted to die together with me!

However, Shiraishi lured him out under the pretense that "Suzuki Group wants you to design a building," and then suddenly drove onto the ring road. Caught off guard, Moriya became afraid of dying.

"Do you have any more clues?" Odagiri immediately looked at Shiraishi.

"Um... ah, just a moment." Shiraishi's phone rang at that moment. After answering, Shiraishi made a few "uh-huh" sounds.

As everyone knows, the fact that Inspector Shiraishi would answer the phone at this time indicates that it must be related to the case, but...

Judging from Inspector Shiraishi's attitude, it didn't seem like he was treating his subordinates.

"Okay, we'll talk about it later..." After hanging up the phone, Shiraishi said to Odagiri, "Now we know that at least in the more than twenty buildings that the Suzuki Group commissioned him to design, there are no traces of bombs planted."

Odagiri:......

That's right, Shiraishi notified Ayako immediately as well.

It wasn't just out of selfishness!

After all, half of the landmarks that were bombed in "Detective Conan" belonged to the Suzuki Foundation...

Whether for public or private reasons, it is absolutely necessary to notify the Suzuki Group to conduct an internal investigation!

However, Shiraishi guessed wrong this time; it seems the target really wasn't the Suzuki Group.

……

Although the culprit should be arrested, the search headquarters was not only not disbanded, but remained on high alert because a large portion of the stolen explosives were still missing...

Shiraishi stayed at headquarters for a while before saying, "Minister, I'll go check out the emergency dispatch room."

Shiraishi originally intended to conduct the interrogation himself, but the head office insisted on taking over...

Odagiri opened his mouth, but then said, "No one came looking for you."

The implication is that "nobody cares where you are!"
The Beika Police Station wasn't specifically pulled into the investigation headquarters, let alone Chief Shiraishi.

Odagiri originally wanted him to stay out of trouble—not for any other reason than that Shiraishi's previous actions were too dangerous, and he was afraid that if he continued to do so, he would be caught red-handed.

Just thinking about the current situation...

Based on his understanding of Shiraishi, if he doesn't let him go now, Shiraishi will most likely spread rumors everywhere that "Minister Odagiri and his old partner have an abnormal relationship."

The Special Investigation Headquarters command center for this case was located within the Metropolitan Police Department. After Shiraishi came out, he went directly to the "Emergency Case Countermeasures Interrogation Team".

Bai Shi had also heard about the new department established by this former leader...

Since it's still a temporary department, the organizational structure is "class" rather than "department," but the administrative level is the same. The class leader is Yukiko... not Kudo Yukiko, but Makabe Yukiko.

This Yukiko Makabe was once the head of the "Special Crime Investigation Department," and the head of the "Special Crime Investigation Department" at that time was Odagiri, so the two were old partners.

However, due to some events, Yukiko Makabe was ostracized by the Metropolitan Police Department and went to Interpol for several years before recently returning.

It's hard to say that Odagiri, who was already the head of the Criminal Investigation Department, didn't set up this "tailor-made" department out of self-interest.

After finding out which interrogation room they were using, Shiraishi pushed the door open and came in...

At this moment, Inspector Makabe was personally interrogating Moriya. Outside, several of Makabe's subordinates, as well as other detectives from the First Investigation Division, were nervously observing the progress through a one-way glass. They were also aware of the tense situation.

Just then, the door opened, and everyone instinctively turned to look. Then…

Upon seeing the "small wall," he crouched down and ducked inside, causing the officers to tense up.

"Inspector Shiraishi, Inspector Makabe is interrogating a suspect." Inspector Tanbara quickly reported upon seeing Shiraishi—the two had met before during the cannibal resurrection case.

Even if others didn't recognize him, they could guess that it was Shiraishi, after all, there probably wasn't another person with that kind of build in the Metropolitan Police Department... no, in the entire Eastern Island Nation.

However, the quality of the police officers in the "Emergency Case Countermeasures Interrogation Team" is worrying; they are either top-notch or too scared to speak.

"How is it?" Shiraishi had no choice but to ask Danyuan.

"Still won't say anything." Danbara was getting impatient and even instinctively began to question whether Makabe was capable at all.

Shiraishi also noticed that Makabe was about the same age as the other "Yukiko" and had a rather elegant demeanor.

"No wonder there are rumors..." Shiraishi muttered.

The others pretended not to hear.

Then Shiraishi knocked on the door and went inside...

Since Makabe is now in charge and has Odagiri backing her up, Danbara didn't dare to disturb her even though she had doubts. However, given Shiraishi's rank, she couldn't say anything if he came in directly.

"Inspector Shiraishi, right? Excuse me..." Masashi Masashi was about to ask.

Shiraishi said directly, "Class Representative Makabe, I'm leaving the interrogation to you. I just have a few things to take care of, don't worry about it..."

As Shiraishi spoke, he moved closer to Moriya. Moriya, who had been silent until now, looked at him nervously and asked, "Wait... what are you going to do?"

"Of course I won't do anything. Would I use violence against you?" Shiraishi retorted matter-of-factly.

Immediately, Shiraishi did not move Moriya at all.

They simply broke off one armrest of the chair he was sitting on, and broke off a corner of the table in the interrogation room. Then they walked to the soundproof wall directly in front of him, and used their fingers to carve out distorted patterns. After that, they swaggered out...

(End of this chapter)